Cops: Teen sent suicide text as a joke

By Daniel Tepfer, Staff writer

Published
2:59 am EDT, Tuesday, September 1, 2009

FAIRFIELD -- A local teen has been charged with disorderly conduct after he sent text messages to at least four random people claiming he planned to commit suicide, according to police. The 17-year-old, whose name was withheld by police, later admitted he did it as a joke.

After his arrest, the teenager was released on a promise to appear in court.

The incident took place Tuesday when a local woman reported she had received a text message that read, "I'm committing suicide," on her cell phone from a number she didn't know.

Concerned it might be legitimate, the woman alerted police.

The text message was traced to a cell phone belonging to the teen's girlfriend. When police later confronted the teen, he allegedly admitted sending the texts to four random phone numbers as a joke.